Retail & E-Commerce

  • March 04, 2025

    Musk Fails To Block OpenAI From Turning Into For-Profit Entity

    A California federal judge on Tuesday denied Elon Musk's bid to preliminarily bar OpenAI Inc. from converting into a for-profit entity, saying that a threshold question of whether Musk's over $44 million in donations created a charitable trust was a "toss-up."

  • March 04, 2025

    Chinese Theme Park Co. Can't Nix Investors' 'Hellscapes' Suit

    A California federal judge will allow investors' securities fraud claims against a Chinese amusement park operator to proceed, finding they plausibly claimed that the company inflated visitor numbers and financials for its park, causing an 89% stock price decline when the truth was eventually revealed.

  • March 04, 2025

    Rite Aid Agrees To Pay $6.8M In Deal Over 2024 Data Breach

    Rite Aid has agreed to a $6.8 million settlement to resolve proposed class action claims it failed to prevent a cyberattack that compromised over 2 million customers' highly sensitive information, offering up to $10,000 per claimant for documented losses, a preliminary approval order filed Tuesday in Pennsylvania federal court states.

  • March 04, 2025

    Mariano's Managers Fight Bid To Decertify Class In OT Row

    Current and former supermarket meat, bakery and deli managers who say Kroger subsidiary Mariano's falsely claimed they were exempt from overtime pay hit back on Monday over a bid to decertify their conditional collective of workers, saying the grocery chain repeatedly misrepresents an "extensive and unambiguous record" showing all managers are similarly situated.

  • March 04, 2025

    Pool-Maker Hit With $25M Defect Verdict In Child's Drowning

    A St. Louis federal jury has hit inflatables company Bestway USA Inc. with a $25 million verdict after finding its defectively designed above-ground pool was largely responsible for the drowning of a 2-year-old girl.

  • March 04, 2025

    Ruger Must Face Colorado Shooting Suits In Connecticut

    Connecticut-based gunmaker Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. must face two lawsuits in its home state over a 2021 mass shooting in a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket, a Connecticut judge has ruled, citing the state's interest in policing harms its businesses may cause in other jurisdictions.

  • March 04, 2025

    4th Circ. Finds No Harm In Facebook Ads For Young Renters

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed a Maryland federal court's dismissal of a would-be renter's proposed class action alleging age discrimination by the D.C. area's largest real estate firms Tuesday, finding that the plaintiff failed to show that she was harmed by the company's targeting of younger renters in Facebook ads.

  • March 04, 2025

    Alcon, Lens.com Settle 7-Year Trademark Fight In NY

    Alcon and Lens.com informed a New York federal judge Tuesday that they've agreed to resolve their long-running trademark dispute over claims that Lens.com was reselling some of Alcon's products without authorization. 

  • March 04, 2025

    Target Can't Pause Warehouse Workers' Wage Suit

    Target warehouse workers' class action claiming they performed unpaid work-related duties before and after their shifts will not wait for the outcome of a U.S. Supreme Court case dealing with standing for certified classes, a New Jersey federal judge ruled.

  • March 04, 2025

    Reynolds Wrap Maker Must Face 'Made In The USA' Case

    A New York federal judge declined to dismiss a proposed class action accusing the maker of Reynolds Wrap of misleading consumers with its "Made in U.S.A" label, saying the plaintiff properly alleged the statement led her to pay a premium price for the product.

  • March 04, 2025

    After 'Historic Low' In 2023, Number Of ITC Cases Soar In 2024

    The U.S. International Trade Commission saw a significant uptick in disputes last year, according to a Tuesday report by a firm that represents expert witnesses used in litigation.

  • March 04, 2025

    NY Creates Framework For County Tax On Short-Term Rentals

    New York established a framework for counties to impose tax on short-term rentals as part of a bill signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.

  • March 04, 2025

    Movie Theaters Left Credit Card Info On Receipts, Suit Says

    The Massachusetts owner of a small chain of movie theaters in Connecticut and Rhode Island left credit card expiration dates on customers' receipts in violation of federal law, a proposed class action filed Monday alleges.

  • March 04, 2025

    Justices Doubt Mexico Can Pin Cartel Deaths On US Gun Cos.

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared highly skeptical of a suit by the Mexican government that seeks to hold Smith & Wesson and other American gunmakers liable for cartel violence, with justices from both sides of the ideological spectrum suggesting that the claims are too speculative.

  • March 04, 2025

    Former Fried Frank Antitrust Partner Joins Davis Polk

    Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP announced it has hired a former Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP antitrust attorney as a partner in its antitrust and competition practice in New York. 

  • March 03, 2025

    Curaleaf Says Ex-VP Can't Be Kicked From C-Suite She Wasn't In

    Curaleaf Holdings Inc. has pushed back on a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former executive who claims she was forced out of the company, arguing not only did it not retaliate against her by ejecting her from the C-Suite but that she was never actually a part of it.

  • March 03, 2025

    Nike Says Lululemon Owes $2.8M As Shoe Patent Trial Begins

    Nike opened a $2.8 million trial on Monday by telling a New York federal jury that athletic apparel maker Lululemon was only able to enter the shoe market by infringing Nike footwear manufacturing patents, while Lululemon suggested Nike's suit is aimed at hindering a key rival.

  • March 03, 2025

    Apple Gets ICloud Monopoly Suit Tossed For Now

    Apple has convinced a California federal judge to toss a proposed class action accusing it of flouting federal antitrust laws by blocking third-party cloud storage services from accessing and storing certain files on its smartphones, at least temporarily.

  • March 03, 2025

    Tobacco, Cannabis Cos. Score Partial Wins In TM Fight

    An Arizona federal court judge has issued a mixed ruling on dueling summary judgment bids in a trademark lawsuit over a tobacco company and a cannabis company's shared use of the word "Raw" in branding.

  • March 03, 2025

    Calif. Farm Sues Tenn. Sheriff Over $3.9M In Destroyed Hemp

    A California hemp farm is suing a Tennessee sheriff's department, alleging that a deputy wrongly arrested a driver who was carrying $3.9 million in legal hemp and had it destroyed.

  • March 03, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Tosses Appeal In Card Payment Patent Dispute

    The Federal Circuit on Monday threw out a patent holder's challenge of an order clarifying that motions for sanctions by gift card company Blackhawk Networks and shopping mall owner Simon Property Group remained live after a Texas federal court's non-infringement judgment.

  • March 03, 2025

    DOJ Opposes Anthropic's Amicus Bid In Google Search Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice is telling a D.C. federal judge to keep Anthropic PBC out of the remedies phase of its search antitrust case against Google, arguing that the artificial intelligence company is trying to backdoor its way to intervenor privileges through an amicus curiae request.

  • March 03, 2025

    Vape Co. Backs 6th Circ. Challenge To Ky. E-Cig Law

    A Texas e-cigarette liquids maker on Monday urged the Sixth Circuit to side with a group of vape interests in their bid to block a Kentucky law regulating vape sales, saying the companies have standing to block the measure and the law is preempted under federal law.

  • March 03, 2025

    Vape Co.'s Challenge Of FDA Penalty Rejected

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge has thrown out an online vape retailer's constitutional challenge to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration enforcement proceeding, ruling that claims fell outside the court's jurisdiction.

  • March 03, 2025

    10th Circ. Backs CPSC In Challenge To New Magnet Rule

    The Tenth Circuit on Monday denied a petition challenging a new Consumer Product Safety Commission rule regulating the sale of small, high-powered magnets, finding that the evidence the CPSC provided supports the rule and the commission's structure is constitutional.

Expert Analysis

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • Review Shipping Terms In Light Of These 3 Global Challenges

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    Given tensions in the Middle East, labor unrest at U.S. ports and the ongoing consequences of climate change, parties involved in maritime shipping must understand the relevant contract provisions and laws that may be implicated during supply chain disruptions in order to mitigate risks, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Cos. Face Increasing Risk From Environmental Citizen Suits

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    Environmental citizen suits stepping in to fill the regulatory vacuum concerning consumer goods waste may soon become more common, and the evolving procedural landscape and changes to environmental law may contribute to companies' increased exposure, say J. Michael Showalter and Bradley Rochlen at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • 2nd Circ. Provides NY Pathway For Fighting Foreign Infringers

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    A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit provides a road map for expeditiously obtaining personal jurisdiction in New York against foreign trademark infringers based on a single purchase of counterfeit goods, meaning the Second Circuit could now be the preferred venue for combating foreign infringement, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Challenge To Ill. Card Fee Law Explores Compliance Hurdles

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    A recent federal lawsuit challenging an Illinois law that will soon forbid electronic payment networks from charging fees for processing the tax and tip portions of card transactions, fleshes out the glaring compliance challenges and exposure risks financial institutions must be ready to face next summer, says Martin Kiernan at Amundsen Davis.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • New Law May Move Calif. Toward Fashion Sustainability

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    California’s recently signed Responsible Textile Recovery Act seeks to increase sustainability innovation in the fashion industry, but it could also create compliance hurdles for brands, especially smaller fashion houses that do not have ample resources, say Warren Koshofer and Maggie Franz at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Antitrust In Retail: Why FTC Is Studying 'Surveillance Pricing'

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    The Federal Trade Commission's decision to study targeted "surveillance pricing" should provide greater clarity into the nature of the data aggregation industry, but also raises several issues, including whether these practices are in fact illegal under any established interpretations of U.S. antitrust law, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • The Trade And Tax Issues Behind US-Canada Digital Tax Clash

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    The new Canadian digital services tax recently went into effect despite objections from the U.S., a controversy that represents an unusual mix of trade and tax policy, and many companies have been pondering how it will affect their e-commerce businesses, says Damon Pike at BDO.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

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    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

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